Vital Weekly, the webcast: we offering
a weekly webcast, freely to download. This can be regarded as
the audio-supplement to Vital Weekly. Presented as a radioprogramm
with excerpts of just some of the CDs (no vinyl or MP3) reviewed.
It will remain on the site for a limited period (most likely
2-4 weeks). Download thefileto
your MP3 player and enjoy!
complete tracklist here: http://www.vitalweekly.net/podcast.html

ANEMONE TUBE - DREAM LANDSCAPE (CD + DVD by Silken Tofu)
Its been almost nine years since I last reviewed something by Anemone
Tube (see Vital Weekly 281). There has been the odd contribution to a
compilation, but otherwise things have been silent for all those years.
Now on Belgium's Silken Tofu there is a limited CD (300 copies) or if
you are fast a CD and DVD (200 copies). Like before Anemone Tube
dabbles in the world of noise. The title and the package may suggest a
more ambient direction, but that's not the case. Its hard to say what
the input is (guitars perhaps? synthesizers? Might also be the case),
save for some taped radio sounds. There is a sufficient amount of
reverb applied to the music, perhaps a little too much. The five
pieces, spanning just under 24 minutes, are a vibrant wall of sound.
The DVD has a fifteen minute film by Gustavo de Lacerda and it was made
in Rotterdam, where Anemone Tube also lives (from time to time). The
sound consists solely of field recordings made in Nanjing and Shanghai.
Now this is the type of field recordings which you don't get a lot. The
microphone is used to capture the most heavy sounds available. Rusty
wheels on iron rails type of noise, closely miked ventilation shafts
and such like. It fits the noise based approach of the CD release, but
it comes less the reverb. Quite some powerful music I'd say. The image
side is something I don't understand very much. Vague images, maybe
reflections of reflections, as soon through a mirror. It might as
easily had an ambient soundtrack, me thinks. Its not bad actually, but
somehow don't seem to fit very much. Either side has its own quality
though. (FdW)
Address: http://www.silkentofu.org

ARTHUR CANTRILL - CHROMATIC MYSTERIES (SOUNDTRACKS 1963 - 2009) (CD by Shame Fill Music)
Chromatic Mysteries is a collection of soundtracks of moviemaker Arthur
Cantrill from Australia. It is a overview of tracks from 1963 till now.
Arthur Cantrill has been making movies with his partner Corinne for
more than 50 years. The CD is released with a 16 page booklet with a
lot of information about the music of Arthur Cantrill. Arthur Cantrill
himself writes about how he creates his music and his development into
music. He uses fieldrecordings, voice, radio, music instruments and
tape recorders to compose his beautiful music. This CD is really a
feast for the ears. The sounds are pure, not dated in a specific period
and varied. Lots of his compositions are filled with the sound of birds
and other nature sounds. Other compositions are made by radiosounds,
piano and a female singing voice. Most of the sounds are generated by
equalizers, computer, tape-recorders, playing with speed and playback.
I can spend a lot of words to this release, but I will not do it,
because every word is too much. Chromatic Mysteries is highly
recommended and one of the best CDs of this year so far. (JKH)
Address: http://shamefilemusic.com

CRANC - COPPER FIELDS (CD by Organized Music From Thessaloniki/Absurd)
The previous CD by Cranc was called 'All Angels' and released by Edo in
1999. We didn't review that CD. Cranc is a trio of Angharad Davies on
violin, Rhodri Davies on electric harp and Nikos Veliotis on cello.
They don't perform very frequently (hey, second CD after eleven years
is pretty infrequent indeed) but stay always in touch. In 2008 they
were guests of Q02 in Brussels, where they recorded this work. No doubt
all generated through improvisation, but then in multiple sessions and
using a variety of multi track recording, so that there was a lot to
mix down in the final process. With the background and instruments of
these three in mind, its hardly a surprise that they operate from the
improvised drone background. Long sustained notes played with various
bows and e-bows, ranging from the delicate softness to the more present
loudness (although never 'noise' based). Its hardly a surprise this
release, these finely woven patterns, in terms of 'drone' and
'improvised' music, but that is hardly the point of this release, I
guess. I don't think Cranc set out to create something that has been
tagged as Avant-garde, but rather set out to play something that is
beautiful, to transport the listener to another place and an altered
state. In that respect they have succeeded pretty well. This is an
absolute great disc of atmospheric music, that for once doesn't seem to
stem from an electric or electronic source, nor a field recording, but
from acoustic sources. That at least is also great. A work in four
quite distinct parts, each with its own specific character, each with
its own captivating beauty. (FdW)
Address: http://www.thesorg.noise-below.org

D_RRADIO - PARTS (CD by Distraction Records)
So far I have been a keen listener to the work of a trio from South
Shields called D_rradio (which I now learn should be pronounced as
'dee-arr-radio'). Especially the early rhythm based 7" were highly
appealing. Since then a lot of water has passed under the bridge and
D-rradio have expanded their music quite a bit, which is a great thing.
I doubt wether a novice would think, upon hearing 'Parts', this would
be the same band as say their first 7" (see Vital Weekly 510). This new
album is a work of ambient music, which starts out as a work about
mellow synthesizers and such like and one could easily think 'oh well,
nice, mmmm, yeah… its the kind of thing I heard before, but definetly a
nice one', but as the album progresses, it becomes strangely more and
more neo classical. Long stretched bows on violins, endless sustain, a
bit of soft pizzicato and that sort of thing alike. It becomes like
listening to an old 78rpm record, but then without the crackles and
hisses and a bit slowed down. Ballroom music but without any elements
of whatever dance music. Music that is highly cinematic, atmospheric
and simply great. This has nothing to do with the old D-rradio, no
bouncing rhythm, no intelligent dance music, but lush long string
quartet like music, divided over no less than nineteen miniature
tracks, making the entire album just over thirty-five minutes. Great
late night music. (FdW)
Address: http://www.distractionrecords.com

JOY AS A TOY - VALPARAISO (CD by Cheap Satanism)
So far this has been a quiet week from a reviewer's perspective, which
leaves me enough time to think about Joy As A Toy. Maybe in more busy
times, I would have put this too easily aside as unVital music. A trio
of Gilles Mortio, Clement Nourry and Jean-Philippe de Gheest from
Brussels, and they have guitars, bass, vocals and drums and receive
some help from pianist and vibraphone player. Its a CD that I played
with some interest, but perhaps also because I don't get it. This is a
kind of music that is perhaps too far away from what I what I like, in
popmusic. Joy As A Toy call their music 'vampire rock' and 'tennis
pop', but translated to the more common terms of music, its psychedelic
music, with large portions of improvised rock in a strong mathematical
way. In a way, then, perhaps more rock than is usual in Vital Weekly,
but on the other hand music also not far away from Vital Weekly. With
one leg in the world of popmusic, and one shifting towards
improvisation, but in a heavy rock like way, this is indeed music that
will make heads burn: what is it about? Joy As A Toy is a band to watch
live I thought. See what they do on the stage and how their sound can
stand that test. If they are around, I'm surely heading out to watch.
(FdW)
Address: http://www.cheapsatanism.com

KEITH BERRY - THE CARTESIAN PLANE (LP by Elevator Bath)
MATT SHOEMAKER - ISOLATED AGENT/STRANDING BEHAVIOR (LP by Elevator Bath)
Elsewhere I write about David Wells and how it took him a long time to
come up with a new work. In that list of the UK drone minds one name is
missing, Keith Berry, and perhaps its because, alike Wells, he hasn't
released much lately. He too makes up this omission with the release of
a picture disc on Elevator Bath, which grows into a nice series of
releases by now. As said Berry is also on one of the UK drone heads,
but unlike his many peers, he doesn't opt for a single track per side,
but one side has two tracks and one has three. Its hard to say what the
input is for these compositions, which is the usual case with drone
music I guess, but my best guess is that Berry uses some kind of
heavily processed field recordings to tell his five stories.
Unfortunately there is not much difference between those pieces, so
perhaps we should regard them as different parts of the same piece.
Each of the five pieces is a strong monolithic block of sound, with
very little to no movement. The perfect guide to absolute drone music.
Majestic, slow, humming, atmospheric. And nothing much new under in
that area, sadly to some. Perfect late night music.
The other record is by Matt Shoemaker, who seems to be always present,
with his regular releases on labels as Ferns and The Helen Scarsdale
Agency. His work recently shifted a bit more towards that of working
with field recordings, but on this LP it all seems to be electronic
again. I have no idea wether these are the result computers working
overtime or meters and meters of cable connecting one synthesizer to
another, and once connected start playing themselves, almost, as it
were. Shoemaker layers the results of whatever process he applies on a
multitude of tracks and does some highly creative mixing with those
sounds. Highy atmospheric (obviously! I'd say) of course, but
Shoemaker's work is also a bit more experimental than the usual drone
minds (UK, USA, otherwise). Shoemaker knows how to put in a strange
angle in his work, that makes it just a bit different than the ordinary
drone record. Partly based in the seventies cosmic tradition, partly
drone and partly serious avant-garde, but with a long, stretched time
signature. Great record. (FdW)
Address: http://www.elevatorbath.com

DAVID WELLS - ROJO (CDR by Siridisc)
It has been quiet for David Wells for some time. The last time we
reviewed something was back in Vital Weekly 503. I have no idea what
caused this silence. I guess sometimes that's the way these things go.
Maybe he lost interest in music? But apparently not, as here is a new
work, which says on the cover 'all materials march 2008-2010. No
instruments are mentioned on the cover, but a save bet would be to say
these are all guitar sounds, and lots of electronics. Like before,
Wells comes from the same background as Paul Bradley and is part of
that great UK scene of drone composers (Jonathan Coleclough, Colin
Potter, Ora, Mirror, Paul Bradley, Ian Holloway and such like), but
unfortunately, also like before, the music hasn't changed much of this
period of silence. That is a pity. Like I wrote last week about Alan
Licht and Loren Connors, there are two ways to approach this. Either,
the objective reviewer could say, 'I like it a lot, but I heard the
genre is too well explored by now', or simply 'I like that a lot'.
Again, also like last week, I must say the subjective of this listener
goes out to the latter. I simply quite enjoy drone music like this.
These thirty eight minutes have a great captivating beauty. Its as
simple as that. If you can't get enough of drone music, then the return
of David Wells deserves some applause. (FdW)
Address: http://www.siridisc.blogspot.com/

ROD COOPER - ACCEPTING THE MACHINES (CDR by 3Leaves)
The name Rod Cooper, from Australia, sounds like a new one to me. He
writes as a press text on the label's website: "The landscape is not a
new theme in the arts and music is no exception. No matter what themes
an artist uses to draw attention to their work and ideas to the
audience, the dominant message is still about the artist." I gather
from this that he is someone to work with field recordings and that,
perhaps, his music should tell something about himself. There are
sounds here recorded in an empty factory shell, his back yard, workshop
and studios, his beach house (a well to-do person, I thought) and his
approach to sounds is like that of a sculptor, using styrofoam which
acts like a resonator. The music he generates from his objects and
situations (which are all described with great detail on the cover of
the release, and a a business card CDR provides you with some images)
is actually nice, since it hardly sounds like the usual field recording
artist. There are lots of looped phrases, industrial and mechanical
sounds. Hardly the sort of 'careful' playing of a bunch of rain sounds,
or watching the sea wash ashore. Cooper does something else, which
leaves more for the listener to imagine. The rumbling of objects,
falling to the surface of an empty building, with a strange background
noise of other activities happening somewhere in the back of a large
empty hall. Cooper seems to be combining the sound of sculptors he made
and plays manually with the sound and resonances of large buildings and
outdoor spaces (chirping insect backgrounds). Quite an excellent
release this one. Lots of imaginative music, making something very much
of his own, but also standing in a long term tradition of visual
artists making music. Cooper does a refined job and sounds a like a
name to watch out for in the future. (FdW)
Address: http://www.3leaves-label.com

TRIO WPB3 - POVERB (CDR by Herbal International)
The 3 in Trio WPB3 stands for the fact that this is a trio, but then so
does the word trio, so, a bit too much? The Trio WPB3 is Mathias
Pontevia on horizontal drums, Nusch Werchowska on piano and objects and
Heddy Boubaker on alto and bass saxophones. The world of improvisation
as recorded on November 21 2008 in the Christianskirche Church,
Hambourg [sic]. This concert, in two parts (one being the encore,
perhaps?), is a lengthy affair of slowly changing sounds. The
instruments aren't always easily to be recognized, although at other
times they are. The horizontal drums perhaps the best, occasionally the
piano, whereas the saxophone with its lengthy and sustained tones is
perhaps the most 'difficult' one to recognize as such. Trio WPB3 move
from the quiet moments to the very loud notions and makes some very
intense listening music, which requires full concentration from the
listener, before it unfolds its beauty. But when you decide to open up
for this music, you won't be disappointed. Very intense music,
beautifully recorded. (FdW)
Address: http://www.herbalinternational.tk/

SMALL CRUEL PARTY - LALA (cassette by Incubator)
As noted a few weeks ago, the Incubator is back on track as a label and
mainly as a cassette label. There is a whole bunch of old music from
the earlier version of the label waiting to be released. Here for
instance 1990 tapes recorded by Small Cruel Party, the long disappeared
project of (now) cook Key Ransone. In the late 80s and early 90s Small
Cruel Party was one of the more interesting musicians playing around
with a highly personal version of improvisation, electronics, and even
a bit of noise music. Private sound poetry, but then without words,
usually with a great, strong visual esthetic. A sort of esthetic we
also find on this new package. Handwritten and not always giving the
right clues as to who and what. So, I think, this is a Small Cruel
Party tape, recorded in 1990, using voice, effects, and electronics.
One side is called 'Lala' and has seven pieces, where as the other side
is called 'Ka Jengbarsi Wolinje' and has four tracks. It bears also the
mysterious 'from Retching Wretch', but what it means?). I haven't heard
any music from Small Cruel Party in quite some time, but its all coming
back to me. The minimalist music of Small Cruel Party is from the
out-sight an affair of simple tape-loops of voice and electronics,
woven together in a great simple yet hallucinative way, maybe even in a
ritualistic way. Ransone sets a few sounds in motion and over the
course of the pieces (which are ideally somewhere between four and
twenty-three minutes), they grow in complexity, like living, growing
organism. These days it would be hard to say wether this is ambient
music, or a very soft variation of industrial music, or music concrete,
but whatever you choose to call it (and I refuse to call it anything),
this is still some great captivating music. Its a long tape, clocking
at some ninety-five minutes, which is best played at a low volume and
preferable on repeat all night. Time to dig out his old releases and
have a re-listen session soon, in those quiet summer days. (FdW)
Address: <logjam@upwardaccess.com>

ZEBRA MU - ODD-TOED UNGULATE SUPERORDER (cassette by Crumbling Peak Records)
Normally I would leave such noise odds to the capable and mysterious
hands of Jliat, but there is something captivating about this. First of
all, its very short. Three tracks that span about ten minutes. Zebra Mu
(not to be confused with the other Zebra reviewed recently here) is
Michael Ridge on circuit bed and custom electronics, pedals and junk
metal. The whole thing was recorded on a Tascam 4-track PortaStudio and
Sony TCM 150 cassette recorder. The cover is a plain xerox on red
paper. Now if that doesn't sound 80s to you, I am lost. The music is
also very 80s noise inspired. Low fidelity, brutal noise, acoustic
sounds blown up to the top and brutal in your face. But as said, this
is short, and therefore to the point. That's what I thought was
particular attractive about this release. If it would have been longer,
say over thirty minutes, a lot of its power would be lost. (FdW)
Address: http://www.myspace.com/crumblingpeak